18 twins, 3 triplets leaving Colchester elementary school

Jack Holdsworth, 10, readily admits that his brother, Christopher, is bigger in stature. “I’m smaller, but I’m older by one minute,” Jack said. Those bragging rights for what little seniority you have are important if you are a twin. That’s the case with Jack, Christopher and eight other sets of twins at Colchester’s Jack Jackter Intermediate School, plus one set of girl triplets.

Jack Holdsworth, 10, readily admits that his brother, Christopher, is bigger in stature.

“I’m smaller, but I’m older by one minute,” Jack said.

Those bragging rights for what little seniority you have are important if you are a twin.

That’s the case with Jack, Christopher and eight other sets of twins at Colchester’s Jack Jackter Intermediate School, plus one set of girl triplets.

The identical siblings started their school lives together as kindergartners at Colchester Elementary School in 2007, the same year the new school opened. Educators were stunned at the time that one town could have so many sets of twins — nine — the same age, in the same school.

“We’re the first class to go all the way through the new elementary school,” Jack Holdsworth proudly said.

Now, most of them will be moving on from fifth grade at Jack Jackter Intermediate School to sixth grade at William J. Johnston Middle School.

Today is the last day of school in Colchester, where they’ll be saying their goodbyes for the summer.

Still, it won’t be quite the same next year. Some twins are attending different middle schools out of town, Jack Jackter Principal Deborah Sandberg said.

Sandberg and other teachers were tickled to see how much the kids had changed — and stayed the same — in the years since kindergarten.

“I just can’t get over how small and cute they looked” six years ago, Sandberg said.

And the children were glad to gather recently and get some time out of the classroom.

Maxwell and Mason Morrissey, 11, have changed quite a bit since their kindergarten days.

Max used to like monster trucks, while his brother played with a toy T-Rex.

These days, Max is more into lacrosse, and so is his brother, who has since ditched the dinosaur.

But, Mason said, being a twin can be difficult.

“Mom and Dad get me confused,” Mason said.

Morgan Merchant, 11, once aspired to being a dentist.

Asked if that was still her goal, the youngster had a confused look on her face and shook her head.

“I want to be a teacher,” she said. “All the teachers are really nice and help me.”

Her brother, Evan, once had his sights set on making jet planes, just like his father.

Now, he’s really into playing soccer, baseball and basketball, and hasn’t really given a career in aircraft manufacturing much thought.

The Annelli brothers, Nicholas and Cyrus, were best friends except when they fought, their mom, Liza, said six years ago. And they both confirmed that that’s still the case.

“Yeah, we still fight,” they both said, nodding their heads and smiling.

Page 2 of 2 - The triplets, Bridget, Clare and Ellen McIntyre, enjoy their time together.

“We all do dancing,” they seemed to say simultaneously.

The siblings don’t share any classes at Jackter, Sandberg said, keeping identity confusion at a minimum.

And while some of the twins wear the same brand of clothing, like identical sweatshirts, the colors are different for each.

Morgan Merchant said she’d never let her parents dress her and brother Evan in identical outfits.